TAMPA (970 WFLA) -- After a sudden spike last week, gas prices are going down slightly across Florida. The statewide average is at $2.80 a gallon, but that's down a fraction of a cent from Sunday, according to AAA Auto Club Group based in Tampa.
Spokesman Mark Jenkins says last week's spike, which caused prices to rise about eight cents a gallon, wasn't caused by a shock to crude oil prices. Instead, refinery problems squeezed supplies.
"About seven refineries were having a variety of mechanical issues," Jenkins says. In one case, the Motiva refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, the nation's largest, suffered a mechanical outage to one of its catalytic crackers. That problem may not be solved until August, but other refinery issues have already been resolved.
As usual, Tampa Bay area prices were below the state average, at around $2.77 a gallon.
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